>From: "Jon Corlett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>POSITIONS AND COMMENTS
>
>of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia concerning the OSCE
>Report "Kosovo/Kossova As Seen, As Told" on the situation of human rights
>in Kosovo and Metohija in the period from October 1998 to October 1999
>
>After careful examination of the OSCE/ODIHR Report "Kosovo/Kossova As
>Seen, As Told", Parts I and II, on the human rights situation in Kosovo and
>Metohija from October 1998 to October 1999, certain questions inevitably
>arise, questions that have not been answered by its authors. There is,
>first of all, the question of the purpose and justification of resorting to
>an armed aggression against a sovereign country, in violation of all norms
>and principles of international law, and secondly the question of the
>respect for the fundamental principles of the OSCE.
>
>OSCE reports have received great attention in the world public and media
>and have again raised serious doubts as to the reasons and consequences of
>the NATO aggression as well as to the real record of performance of the
>international administration and the military presence in Kosovo and
>Metohija. The Federal Government considers that the data cited and the
>methodology used in collecting and presenting information need a critical
>analysis and evaluation, both from the point of view of the truthfulness of
>the statements and data presented and the method of selecting them, but
>also from the point of view of the (political) effects wanted to be
>achieved by them.
>
>A one-sided presentation of facts in the report, which does not at all
>make use or mention of the findings of the authorities in the FR of
>Yugoslavia regarding events that are being reported on, represents an
>attempt at justifying the NATO aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia
>after the event. The very publication of the report by the OSCE represents
>an abuse of that organization already instrumentalized for political
>purposes, for the second time (the KVM presence in Kosovo and Metohija
>being used to prepare for the NATO aggression). Such abuse has most
>seriously undermined the credibility of OSCE, which may have unforeseeable
>consequences on its prestige and possibilities for future activity.
>
>1. Although it was not the intent of the report, it revealed in a
>documented fashion that there was no humanitarian crisis in Kosovo and
>Metohija before NATO aggression, and that problems in this Serbian province
>were at least not that serious to provoke the most brutal interference in
>the internal affairs of a sovereign State, a gross violation of its
>sovereignty and territorial integrity and disrespect of the basic OSCE
>principles.
>
> It is clear from the report that prior to NATO aggression there was no
>violence against Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija (except actions against
>the terrorists of the so-called KLA). These actions of "the army and
>paramilitary units were confined to the areas where the so-called KLA had
>its bases". It is also clear from the report that the activities of the
>Yugoslav authorities in Kosovo and Metohija were directed against a
>terrorist and separatist organization which openly advocated "an armed
>struggle until liberation". It documented illegal activities carried out by
>Albanian separatists (establishment of parallel institutions and
>administration, boycotting of elections and the establishment of the
>so-called KLA which is being described as "a paramilitary group of Kosovo
>Albanians whose purpose is separatism through armed struggle").
>Consequently, legitimate reactions of the authorities in the Province
>against terrorist and separatist activities cannot be described as
>"repression against the Albanian population". The assertion is not true,
>either, that "human rights violations were the cause and effect of
>conflicts in Kosovo and Metohija", because it was well-documented that the
>terrorist activities of the so-called KLA commanded appropriate legitimate
>response of the authorities, aimed at their suppression.
>
>The cited information clearly proves that the tragic plight of the Kosovo
>population followed "the NATO humanitarian intervention", i.e. the armed
>aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia, in which thousands of people were
>killed and there was a mass exodus of the population fleeing the bombs. In
>other words, the "military intervention" was directly responsible for the
>wave of the ethnic cleansing. Instead of being prevented it is going on to
>the present day in the presence of UNMIK and KFOR.
>
>2. The relevant authorities of the FR of Yugoslavia kept the international
>public and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office regularly informed of the illegal
>actions by terrorists and separatists in Kosovo and Metohija (See the set
>of documents delivered to the CiO, Mr. Knut Vollebaek, Norwegian Foreign
>Minister, on 1 March 1999.).
>
>The terrorist actions of Albanian separatists in Kosovo and Metohija,
>prior to the consent of the FRY to accept an OSCE Mission in its territory
>as a sign of its good will, had assumed such proportions that they required
>energetic measures by the authorities. In a one-year period, from 1
>January-31 December 1998 alone, in Kosovo and Metohija there were :
>- more than 1,885 terrorist attacks, in which 288 persons were killed and
>561 wounded;
>- 1,129 terrorist attacks against police personnel and facilities, which
>left 115 police officers dead and 403 wounded;
>- the remaining 756 attacks were made against civilians, with 173 people
>killed and 158 injured.
>
>- During the same period, 308 persons (293 civilians and 15 policemen)
>were abducted. Of this number 31 civilians and 3 policemen were killed,
>while 143 abducted civilians and 9 policemen are still unaccounted-for.
>Following the deployment of OSCE verifiers to Kosovo and Metohija,
>terrorist activities did not cease. Only in the period from 13 October 1998
>-20 March 1999 (after the agreement reached by the President of the FRY S.
>Milo{evi} and US Special Representative Ambassador R. Holbrooke), a series
>of terrorist attacks, murders and abductions took place in the presence of
>KVM, namely:
>
>- 1,048 attacks (371 against civilians and 677 against police);
>- 154 people (127 civilians and 27 policemen) were killed;
>- 148 (81 civilians and 67 police officers) sustained serious injuries;
>- 100 persons (93 civilians and 7 police officers) were kidnapped (16
>killed:14 civilians and 2 policemen and the fate of 37 civilians and 4
>policemen is yet unknown);
>- 56 terrorist attacks on VJ forces (2 soldiers killed, 9 seriously and 21
>slightly injured).
>
>3. Since its deployment in Kosovo and Metohija in October 1998, the OSCE
>Kosovo Verification Mission openly defended the separatist movement and the
>terrorist KLA there and adopted a benignant and uncritical attitude towards
>it. This is evidently the reason why the above information was left out of
>the report, because it will clearly show that there was an increase in
>terrorist actions during the presence of KVM; that roadblocks were set up
>hindering freedom of movement; that kidnappings and arms smuggling were
>frequent occurrences. Moreover, strategically important facilities were
>marked in this period. In this way, the OSCE and its Mission were grossly
>abused and they played a role contrary to the goals of this Organization.
>The report singles out, as the most glaring illustration of the alleged
>repressive policies of the government before the aggression, the previously
>overmagnified and overexploited "events" in the media in the villages of
>Ra~ak, Rakovina and Rogovo (that are referred to as "executions"). In these
>villages, according to the report, there were mass killings of "Kosovo
>Albanians by the Yugoslav/Serbian forces". The report made by the team of
>independent forensic experts did not confirm the accusations levelled by
>KVM Head W. Walker.
>
>The evidence of the crimes that had allegedly been committed in Kosovo and
>Metohija before the aggression, was taken as "eye-witness" statements from
>refugees in camps in Albania and Macedonia. In view of the fact that this
>part of the report contains most serious accusations levelled at the
>actions taken by "police, paramilitary and the military" against the
>civilian population - mostly those of Albanian nationality - (torture,
>rape, missing persons, arbitrary detention, wanton destruction of property
>and looting, use of civilians as human shields, forced expulsions, etc.),
>it would be logical that it also contains findings of Yugoslav authorities
>concerning the events in question, considering that they were timely
>presented and submitted to KVM. Instead, the drafters of the report have
>confined themselves to "interviewing eye-witnesses on the ground" and
>making public their statements as testimonies of "witnesses for the
>prosecution", thus ignoring the reports of the legitimate authorities, a
>fact which is both essentially and methodologically unacceptable and cannot
>help get an objective picture of events.
>
>4. One may rightfully raise the question of the credibility of the
>so-called "evidence of the crimes" committed by police, VJ and paramilitary
>forces in the period during the aggression, from 24 March to 9 June 1999,
>since KVM withdrew from Kosovo and Metohija on 20 March 1999, i.e. before
>the onset of the aggression and was not present there while it was on.
>It should be noted that the report did not at all keep track of the crimes
>committed by the NATO alliance in Kosovo and Metohija in that period,
>although they were widely reported in international media and
>well-documented by the competent Yugoslav authorities (See the White Paper,
>Part I and II).
>
>The list of crimes and irreparable losses caused by the aggression is
>endless:
>- More than 2,000 civilians died. This figure is not final given that the
>identification of all victims has not been completed;
>- More than 7,000 people were wounded and in most cases they will remain
>permanently disabled;
>- Eighty-two bridges were damaged or destroyed;
>- 422 school facilities (school buildings, university colleges, student
>dormitories, etc.) were knocked down or damaged;
>- 48 health institutions (hospitals, out-patient clinics, health stations,
>etc.) were damaged or destroyed;
>- 74 TV transmitter, relay and repeater sites were demolished or destroyed;
>- Essential infrastructure (power plants, transformer yards, power
>distribution system, oil installations, numerous factories, traffic routes,
>etc.) were destroyed or severely damaged, as well as great many other
>civilian facilities (See the White Paper);
>- Over 2.5 million citizens of the FR of Yugoslavia have remained without
>the basic means of subsistence;
>- Total material losses due to the aggression amount close to US$ 100
>billion.
>- Total quantifiable losses (due to the sanctions imposed by the
>international community, due to the secession of the republics of the
>former SFR of Yugoslavia as well as those due to the NATO aggression) in
>the period 1991-2010 have been estimated at US$ 200 billion. It is worth
>noting that the sanctions, as a flagrant violation of the basic human
>rights, have not been devoted any attention in the OSCE report.
>Negative effects on the overall development of the FR of Yugoslavia and
>the standard of living of its population will be felt for decades to come.
>
>5. Regrettably, the OSCE report does not at all deal with the consequences
>of the aggression on the enjoyment of fundamental human rights of the
>entire population of the FR of Yugoslavia. Contrary to NATO's propaganda
>machine, which sought to create a picture of mass human rights violations
>and vulnerability of the Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija prior
>to NATO aggression, the report, nevertheless, clearly indicates that
>following the start of "air strikes", there was chaos, uncertainty and fear
>(of the bombing) and the population fled in massive numbers, which is
>something that the Yugoslav authorities cannot, obviously, be blamed for.
>Civilian losses inflicted by the NATO aggressors have been completely
>marginalized. Even if they are mentioned, they are justified by the
>well-known NATO logic of blaming again the Yugoslav authorities for using
>"human shields" to protect facilities and equipment. Thus, massive deaths
>among the Albanian civilian population, references to which could not be
>avoided, were also blamed on the "Serbian forces" and not attributed to the
>fact that this was the region where the largest number of bombs had been
>dropped since the end of the Second World War. During the aggression
>against the FR of Yugoslavia:
>- 35,000 sorties were conducted, involving more than 1,000 aircraft and
>206 helicopters;
>- More than 10,000 cruise missiles were launched;
>- 79,000 tons of ordnance (156 cluster bombs containing 37,440 bomblets).
>
>The report makes no mention of the documentary evidence on the aerial
>bombardment nor material losses caused by it. There are no photographs,
>either, of the aftermath of the strikes and we are talking here about the
>proportionately most bombed region in the history of warfare. Even the
>published photographs are not authentic, as evidenced by the bombing of the
>"Prizren League" building, which was struck down in the aggressors' attack
>on 28 March 1999 (White Paper, p.p. 227 and 228). The report wrongfully
>pointed out that the building was "destroyed by the Yugoslav security
>forces in March 1999" (Report, p. 334). Such examples make all other cited
>information seen in a relatively different light whose credibility may be
>brought into question.
>
>Consequently, the OSCE report, which would otherwise make NATO responsible
>for the serious crimes against civilians and for breaches of the Geneva
>Conventions, was grossly abused as a tool to justify the aggression. Its
>purposes were even defined in NATO language ("preventing Yugoslav military
>and security forces from continuing repression of civilians and deterring
>their further military actions against their own population"), in
>contravention of all OSCE principles which were not referred to therein.
>Rather than condemning NATO aggression, the report deliberately omitted
>any references to it, using the NATO terms for it such as "intervention",
>"bombing" or "air strikes" or "air campaign". Most often, only certain
>dates (before or after 24 March 1999) are mentioned, thus suggesting that
>the brutal murders of the civilian population and massive destruction of
>civilian facilities are the result of the same "repressive policy"
>continued by other means. An impression may be gained, therefore, that NATO
>bombs killed no one (but they actually killed 2,000 people) and that
>Serbian security forces were responsible for all casualties during the "air
>strikes", which was why they were targeted by NATO.
>
>The report also lacks what UNMIK and KFOR obviously do not want to talk
>about, and that is a politically devastating record of the war, because
>this region is now less secure than it used to be; the ethnic cleansing is
>going unhampered and local administration is not functioning.
>
>After UNMIK and KFOR took responsibility, massive human rights abuses by
>Albanian terrorists and terrorist gangs take place, which is extremely
>worrying. Between 10 June 1999 and 6 February 2000 alone, in their presence,
>- a total of 4,249 terrorist attacks were made;
>- of this number 4,030 were against Serbs and Montenegrins;
>- and 126 against other ethnic communities;
>- 93 against Albanians;
>- 889 persons were killed;
>- 784 persons were wounded;
>- 834 were abducted and missing (75 killed, 6 escaped, 31 released, 722
>still unaccounted-for);
>- more than 350,000 were expelled;
>- more than 50,000 homes were burned down; and
>- over 80 churches and monasteries were demolished.
>At the same time, more than 200,000 criminals and looters from
>neighbouring Albania were allowed to enter this Serbian province illegally
>(See the Memorandum of the FRY Government of 3 November 1999).
>
>7. Despite its efforts to prove the contrary, the OSCE cannot conceal an
>evident conclusion that the tragic plight of the Kosovo population is a
>direct consequence of the NATO aggression; that thousands of people were
>killed during the aggression and not before it; and that an unimpeded
>ethnic cleansing of the Province of its Serbs, Roma, Muslims, Turks,
>Goranci and other non-Albanians is now under way, in the presence of UNMIK
>and KFOR.
>
>While the report blames the Yugoslav authorities for all problems in the
>past, it is clear that no one bears responsibility for the current
>situation there, characterized by a climate of impunity. Terror, ethnic
>cleansing, organized international crime, drug and arms trafficking, human
>smuggling, money laundering, abuse of humanitarian aid, etc. continue.
>
>Concurrently, there is a lack of action to prevent such crimes, the lack of
>an effective system of protection of the population as well as of the
>functioning of local administration. The report does not point, as it has
>done in Part I, to the responsibility of office holders in Kosovo and
>Metohija (i.e. UNMIK and KFOR) or blames them for the present situation. As
>a result, there is a continuing spiral of crime; an ineffective protection
>of the basic human rights of non-Albanians and non-functioning local
>government. In this part, the report only takes note of human rights
>violations (ranging from murders to expulsions, harassment, intimidation,
>arson and looting).
>
>The report reveals a number of problems arising out of inoperation of the
>military and civilian missions in Kosovo and Metohija, notably
>non-fulfilment of the mandate under UN Security Council resolution 1244
>(1999). Instead of taking energetic steps and applying existing laws of the
>Republic of Serbia and those of the FR of Yugoslavia, UNMIK reacts by
>issuing appeals, statements and regulations that are not either enforced or
>are not in conformity with the above-mentioned resolution. The lack of
>vigorous action by the relevant representatives of the international
>community makes them accomplices in the crime of ethnic cleansing that is
>under way. The conclusion to be drawn is that the only thing that members
>of the international community are seriously concerned for is their own
>safety and security.
>
>Part II of the report, covering the period following the take-over of
>responsibility by UNMIK and KFOR, may lead to the conclusion that the
>current violence against Serbs is massive and systematic in all parts of
>Kosovo and Metohija, apparently with the intent to scare off the
>non-Albanian population and create a mono-ethnic Kosovo and Metohija. The
>key elements of UNMIK's and KFOR's mandates, as defined in Security Council
>resolution 1244 (1999), have not been implemented, i.e. to create a secure
>environment in which all refugees and displaced persons can return home in
>safety, to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all
>inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija, to maintain a multi-ethnic and
>multi-confessional character of the Province, as well as to demilitarize
>the so-called KLA. KFOR and UNMIK have failed to ensure free movement in
>Kosovo and Metohija and also, with their tolerant attitude towards the
>terror of the so-called KLA, are accessory to the blockading and
>ghettoization of segments of the Serbian and other non-Albanian populations
>herded into several enclaves in Kosovo and Metohija (Orahovac, Gora`devac,
>Kosovo Polje). The report failed to point to the responsibility of those
>who have undertaken to establish law and order and guarantee security for
>all citizens. They will not take the consequences for such failure, either.
>
>Thus, the recognition that UNMIK has been incompetent (or unwilling) to
>halt the final stages of the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Metohija and to
>establish civil administration, is revealed in all its devastating
>brutality.
>
>
>Belgrade, 7 February 2000
>
>
>
>--
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>
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